Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2007-08: Ryan Murray was chosen in the first round, 9th overall, of the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft by the Everett Silvertips.

2008-09: Murray spent most of the season with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the SJHL. In 41 games, Murray scored 12 goals and added 26 assists for 38 points. In 5 playoff games, Murray scored 1 goal and added 6 assists for 7 points. Murray received his first taste of WHL actions, playing in 5 playoff games for the Silvertips. He registered 1 assist in those games.

2009-10: In his WHL rookie season, Murray played in 52 games for the Silvertips. He scored 5 goals and added 22 assists for 27 points. In 7 playoff games, he scored 2 goals and added 5 assists for 7 points. Murray played for Team Western at the 2010 U-17 Hockey Challenge, registering 1 assist in 5 games. Murray also played for Canada at the 2010 U-18 World Junior Championship, picking up no points in 6 games. He was named a Top 3 player on his team for that tournament.

2010-11: Murray played in 70 games for the Silvertips, scoring 6 goals and adding 40 assists for 46 points while also adding 45 penalty minutes. In 4 playoff games, Murray scored 1 goal and added 2 assists for 3 points. Murray was named to the WHL Western Conference All-Star Team. Murray played for Canada at the 2011 U-18 World Junior Championship, scoring 3 goals and adding 7 assists for 10 points in 7 games.

2011-12: Murray was named a team captain for the Silvertips as an 18-year-old and also represented Canada at the 2012 U20 World Junior Championship. Limited at the beginning of the season due to an ankle injury, he skated in 46 regular season games. Murray finished with an even plus-minus and scored 9 goals with 22 assists and 31 PMs on an Everett team that won just 22 games. Murray was the Everett's leading scorer in the four-game playoff series with Tri-City, scoring 3 goals, including a short-handed tally, and adding 2 assists while finishing minus-2. He skated in all six games during Canada's bronze medal run at the U20 WJC and had 3 assists. Following the season he was one of two junior players invited to the camp for Team Canada prior to the 2012 IIHF World Championship. Murray was ranked 2nd among North American skaters in the final Central Scouting rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft.

2012-13: Murray's season was cut short by a season-ending shoulder injury in November that required surgery. The injury prevented him from skating for Canada in the 2013 World Junior Championship and from making a possible NHL debut with the Blue Jackets after the lockout. In his fourth WHL season he scored 2 goals with 15 assists in 23 games for Everett and had an even plus/minus with 14 penalty minutes.

Talent Analysis

The most NHL-ready player of the 2012 draft class, Murray is a talented defenseman with few holes in his game. He already has good command in the defensive zone, and can contribute offensively with both good passing skills and a hard, accurate shot. Murray is quite poised for his young age, and has the look of a future NHL captain. He should help anchor a top defensive pairing in the NHL for years to come.

Future

Murray has already developed into a solid NHL defender, and should only get better as he matures.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have a ton of depth along its blue line with a prospect class led by players such as Ryan Murray, Mike Reilly, and Dalton Prout. Its defenders seem to be improving consistently and its undersized forwards keep getting quicker. Cam Atkinson and Boone Jenner lead the playmaking forwards with quick routes to the net and crisp passing. Columbus’ prospects awards shed light on some of the key players who we could see dominating the NHL in a few short years.

Photo: Cam Atkinson, who has 10 points in 21 games with Columbus this season, ranks as the top forward prospect in the mid-season Top 20 ranking (courtesy of Jason Mowry/Icon SMI)

The Columbus Blue Jackets still have strong defensive depth and a good amount of young wingers slowly reaching their potential. Unfortunately for Columbus not all of these wingers can be Cam Atkinson or Boone Jenner. Much like the deep defensive core, the Blue Jackets are riddled with gritty forwards that get in the dirty areas, but have trouble finding the back of the net. Although the Blue Jackets have a significant amount of household names, the back-end prospects in the talent pool are not improving nearly as much as they should.

Photo: New York Islanders prospect Ryan Strome was fantastic this season for the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL. In 53 games, Strome netted 34 goals and 60 assists (courtesy of Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

New York Islanders prospect Ryan Strome leads the 11-20 section of the Hockey's Future Spring ranking of the Top 50 NHL prospects. Strome was one of the most productive players in the OHL this season, and was Mr. Everything for the Niagara IceDogs, figuring into over 40 percent of their total offense. He was not the only notable player to move up in the prospect rankings, however.

Photo: Minnesota Wild defensive prospect Matt Dumba received a brief look from the parent club to start the 2012-13 season before being returned to his WHL team, the Red Deer Rebels (courtesy of Brad Rempel/Icon SMI)

Our ranking of the drafted WHL defensemen includes a mix of offensively gifted players and prototypical “shut down” defensemen. For this list, the criteria we ranked “signed” prospects currently playing in the WHL. A handful of these defensemen attended their respective NHL training camps.

Photo: Oscar Lindberg, shown here representing Sweden at the 2011 World Junior Championships, is off to a hot start with Skelleftea in the Swedish Elite League. (courtesy of Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Welcome to the December 2012 edition of On the Rush, a monthly column featuring prospects at various competition levels who are either exceeding expectations or falling a little behind. This month’s edition features several players who will represent their country in the 2013 World Junior Championships. We also feature several players who, while posting decent numbers at their respective levels of competition, have fallen short of expectations through the first few months of the 2012-13 season.